Author: byebyedopiates

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2013 1:03 am

Thanks Amy,

I do feel that stalling mid-taper can be just fine, or even crucial to the end goal …especially to gain stability in life, or for the comfort of the detox process. Considering I had maxed out at 2.66mg/day (1/3 of an 8mg strip) I figured that 0.25-0.33mg/per day was a great milestone, being approximately 1/10th of my peak dose.

As far as planning for my future stability, in the last year I’ve changed my social scene and personal habits/outlook a lot. I’ve recently started seeing a therapist thru a prominent college in my area. I have typically been the support system for many around me, so I am actually my primary source of support. I expect I will ultimately join a program to offer support, and to have support as well.

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Financial (or other) stress, as well as poor eating (lack of caloric intake/insufficient fresh produce), poor hydration can really masquerade as, or intensify apparent withdrawal agonies.

At times I’m unusually in tune to my body, and at other times I’m as oblivious as putty. When I have too much on my mind and get spread too thin I become a bit stupid.

A COMMON SYMPTOM OF DEHYDRATION IS RESTLESSNESS:
I tend toward chronic dehydration, and began to realize its effect on my supposed opiate-related "RLS" (restless leg syndrome). It took some time to act on my hunch, but then my research on dehydration symptoms coupled with moderately chugging water worked absolute wonders. Hydration is no cure-all, but I can only imagine how much comfort and rest have been lost, and how many benzos have been eaten trying to alleviate RLS, when simple water may have done the trick……

example:
The other night, I couldn’t get to sleep, then I couldn’t stay asleep, at one point I awoke and stayed in an exhausted fidgety state, too tired to get water……..until finally I got up, got a 20oz bottle of water, and was sleeping soundly before I finished it. Maybe less than 10 minutes.

I do have a prescription for Xanax which I’ve always taken VERY sparingly. Xanax usually works too well or too little. It either doesn’t put me down, even after 2-3 doses, or some days a single dose takes me out for a whole day, still dragging the next day.

I have started depending much more on water to attain physical and mental comfort.
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It’s funny how intimidating the Suboxone dosage reductions can seem before you actually reduce.

Cutting up the portions in advance can help a lot. At the moment that it’s time to dose is not the best time to do precision cuts, so I just kept eating the easy, non-reduced cut in order to carry on. One day I simply diced up a week’s worth of smaller doses and proceeded to consume smaller doses without much issue.

example:
When dividing, naturally some parts will simply be a tad bigger than the rest. Some will be the smaller portions.
I start consuming the larger portions, which compliments the taper idea as I end with smaller portions.

To attain a 0.25mg dose…………….I cut an 8mg strip into 4 parts, 2mg+/- each.
I cut the 2mg’s in half = 2x 1mg parts.
I cut the 1mg’s in half = 2x 0.5mg parts.
I cut the 0.5mg’s in half = 2x 0.25mg parts. (this is not rocket science. The actual sizes will vary a lot)
My dose hovered at 0.25mg for awhile. I finally started cutting a 1/4th notch out of each unit, leaving 0.1875mg (according to the calculator, not the absolute true amount of meds)

The next step was to estimate the cut splitting 0.25mg into 0.15mg and 0.10mg. (3 parts to 2 parts)
I’m dosing at 0.15mg/day now.
****again, not rocket science. Depending on how much the actual cut parts vary in size, you may dose a little more or less often….. tiny piece: dose 20 hours later; larger piece: dose 26 hours later
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At low doses I’ve been dosing once per day now, steadily for a month or more. For the year I was on Subs before tapering, I dosed twice daily to avoid surges and gaps.

Now, after a reduction, I may re-dose 18-22 hours later at first. Within a few days I’m hitting 26 hours without discomfort.
For me, adjusting the hours between doses helps to ease the transitions. If the reduced amount isn’t perfect, then the hours between doses will bridge the gap.
Trust your body, and cut yourself a small amount of slack.
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I’m going to visit family in 3 weeks and plan to be off the daily doses by then. I will bring some tiny pre-cut pieces with me to ensure that I’m okay for an overdue connection with some very loved people.

………….There’s my update.
I hope the information about my experiences and personal quirks can help one or more people get to a better place.